The present invention relates to a rotary engine utilizing a housing and rotating block arrangement wherein the pistons are placed within the rotating block and accomplish rotational drive by urging drive cam followers against a segmented drive cam inner circumferential surface. More specifically, this invention relates to an engine structure which uses a short stroke at low, but constant or variable revolutions per minute to accomplish a higher efficiency than prior art forms.
A great deal of attention and research has been applied to the end of producing a powerful, efficient, light-weight, and easily accessible engine both in the past and continuing today. The advent of the first automobile, seems to have set off a lot of the increased interest in such work. Today, however, we are still faced with a rather heavy and inefficient engine for the most part and with the forecasters telling of the ever impending energy problems for the future, it becomes increasingly important to significantly improve the basic internal combustion engine which powers so much of today's society. Moreover, an engine having fewer components and a less complex operation would be highly desirable to increase efficiency with an attendant decrease in repair and service costs.
There have been numerous attempts to develop a rotary type engine for greater efficiency, fuel economy, less service and the like, but until the development of the Wankel engine these have met with little commercial success because the in-line and V-type engines with a crank shaft have virtually dominated the commercial market. A few of these prior art engines which are of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,282,824; 1,456,479; 1,475,005; 1,619,273; 1,673,968; 1,722,257; 1,800,677; 1,990,660; 3,161,183; and, 3,572,209. Although the foregoing-named patents are directed to the development of a feasible commercial version of the rotary engine, none have achieved the advantages of the present invention.